Out here in the hills and countryside, we know a grift when we see one. It is when somebody swears they came to help you fix the tractor, but the tractor never moves and somehow they leave with your gas money. Country definition, but it holds up in court.

And since everyone likes to argue about the meaning of rural, we’ll borrow the best one ever given. Years ago, Virginia Tech’s legendary coach, Frank Beamer told a reporter that a “rural recruit” was any kid who lived an hour or more from an interstate.
If you know Southwest and Southside Virginia, that covers a whole lot of ground.

A while back, the Democratic National Committee shut down its rural campaign infrastructure and shifted to an urban-heavy playbook. That single move turned winnable rural districts into blowouts, and the Democratic party has been losing ground ever since.

Across the country, into that void stepped a line of “rural” nonprofits and consultants promising salvation. The pitch was simple:
Write us a check, we’ll help those poor rural candidates.
And big donors and state parties loved it. Made them feel like they were solving something.

Except they weren’t.

Ask many of the actual rural candidates in Virginia this year. Many didn’t see one dollar of that supposed support. Not a tank of gas, not a sign, not a flyer. Donors thought their money was helping candidates. It wasn’t. That’s the grift. If the cash never reaches the people you meant to help, the game speaks for itself.

Then along came Dr. Fergie Reid Jr.

He spent months recruiting candidates and helping them gain ballot access.  He lined up knowledgeable support to help candidates file their paperwork to run.

He built the Virginia 27 Value Pack (with the help of from one of his political contacts, Charles Gaba) and did the one thing all those consultants somehow never got around to:

He made sure ALL the money raised went directly to rural candidates in heavy MAGA districts.
No middlemen. No “messaging studies.” No high priced scenic retreats with catered lunches.

And just like that, campaigns came alive. Candidates bought ads. Knocked more doors. Printed materials. The results showed up on Election Night like a long-lost cousin.  They did better, much better!

It felt like the old days, when Democrats stood with rural workers. Like F.D.R. backing labor, or Rev. Jesse Jackson marching with miners during the Pittston strike, or President Barack Obama talking HOPE and actually meaning it.

Dr. Reid didn’t sell a dream. He delivered honest support.

Now many rural Democratic candidates across Virginia are angry, and not without reason. They finally got a taste of what real backing looks like, and now they know exactly who has been shutting off the tap.

Rural Virginia never lacked talent or heart. It lacked financial support and backing.
Once a little of it finally arrived, everything changed.

Maybe that’s the real message this year: give rural candidates an honest chance, and they’ll take it farther than any consultant ever promised.